


Reunited At Last

by andywriter98



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26584780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andywriter98/pseuds/andywriter98
Summary: After some months away, Anna went back to LA to warn Callen about a possible threat coming from Darius, a Comescu. However, what happens when their joint mission is finished?A Callanna one-shot set before "Back In Your Arms", which involves the final scene of “The Circle” (S11Eps15).
Relationships: G Callen/Anna Kolcheck
Kudos: 2





	Reunited At Last

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the characters. They are the NCISLA writers' intellectual property. I only own the story.   
> Also (and as always), English is not my first language, which means mistakes might still exist.  
> Have a nice read!

Following the wrap of another (fortunately) successful but tiring mission, both physically and emotionally, the team went home to get some rest. Callen was the only one of them who had stayed at OPS to finish some urgent paperwork before leaving. By the time he was done with it he went to search for Anna, but she was nowhere to be found. Not at OSP, at least. Callen sighed in defeat, picked up his bag, and drove to the bar. 

Once he had arrived, the door closed behind him and he admired how the sunset's scarlet-golden light filled and lightened the room quite nicely, giving it a sense of coziness. That wouldn’t last long, though. Many things in life didn’t, he sighed. Following that thought, Callen turned a single light on so that he wouldn’t feel as lonely in that space, once the sunset turned into dusk. Then he walked towards the bar counter in an imperfect straight line while deviating from a couple of tables. 

Callen’s jacket was the first thing to go and he placed it on the back of a bar stool. His gun soon joined it, and he went to serve himself a cold beer. The sound of a stool moving as Callen sat on it was the only thing that could be heard in that bar before he loosened his tie, undid the first button of his shirt, and drank his beer whilst he looked through his phone’s gallery. He swiped through a couple of photos he and Anna had taken, back in 2017. He couldn’t help that. Not finding her at the OSP didn’t necessarily mean that she was gone. Although, Callen was having a bit of a hard time convincing himself of that. He only hoped she was going to be okay, wherever she went and whatever she decided to do, and put his phone away.

Later, the watery and empty bottle of beer hit the bar counter softly. In the very next instant, Callen heard the door opening. His eyes shut and he sighed heavily as he quickly realized he had forgotten to lock it. No doubt that he was distracted, he thought. His right hand went straight to his gun while he turned the seat around, but he ended up not picking it. Callen knew the person who had just entered the bar. Anna. His Anna. He stood up right away.

During that split second, Callen’s entire body went through one of those incredibly realistic déjà vus and he recalled the surprise that took over him when his eyes first saw Anna standing in the same room, after so many months. That sight brought up numerous feelings which he had tried to keep from entertaining, for the first few months of separation, until he couldn’t continue lying to himself anymore. When his gaze first met her, after so long, of all the feelings, relief was the most intense one. Callen was relieved that Anna was okay, healed and that she hadn’t been caught sneaking into the country. He had been searching for her whereabouts to make sure that she was okay, but it seemed that the one who needed “rescue” and help was him, given the information that she shared with him over a cup of coffee, the previous day. 

He knew his stare was on her while his mind wandered, but Anna’s voice brought him back to reality. “Hetty told me the team was going to hang out here. So, I passed by to thank and say goodnight to everybody,” she explained with a confused look painted on her face as she walked towards him.

Callen couldn’t help but smirk at the way Hetty moved the pieces around life’s chessboard. “I guess Hetty got it wrong, this time. Today’s the bar’s day off, and everyone went home to rest,” he let her know in an affable way. 

“Oh… Alright.” There was an awkward pause for a few seconds. “I, uh… I apologize for bothering you.” Anna shot him a weak smile. “Good night, Callen.” 

Anna turned around to leave the bar, not knowing where she would spend the night. In that instant, Callen realized he was the only one who could truly guide his life towards the path he wanted it to follow. He wanted it to meet Anna’s path, again, and for as long as their future allowed. Callen knew he didn’t want her to go. He couldn’t quite handle that thought, because that would most likely—well, definitely—mean that it would be it for them. He would never forgive himself if he didn’t risk trying harder to make it work between them, no matter the result. Also, he wanted to make good on his promise of working things out. Together. That word triggered his thinking in a way it had never happened before. Many times, Callen was a pretty quick and smart decision-maker, a skill that the job demanded from him under extreme and pressure-filled situations, but that time it was completely different. That resolution he was about to make (or hold back) was not and never would be like all those ordinary work decisions he had to take, over the years. Instead, he was practically deciding his whole future. His mind seemed to be spinning around like crazy and a couple of seconds felt like minutes, eternity even. When his very short trance ended, Callen got back to his senses and saw that Anna was still on her path to leave but hadn’t done so, yet. In what could be described as a sudden but wanted reaction, Callen didn’t let her go that far. 

Anna had only taken a couple of steps towards the exit when she felt one of his strong but gentle hands holding her left wrist. That simple gesture caught her off guard, even though she had been hoping for it or for something else that warmed her heart. Anna stopped on her tracks, turned around to face him, again, and looked down at his hand on hers. It felt like the warmth of his hand was warming her whole being.

“Why don’t you stay?” Callen proposed in a low, caring tone. 

“Where?” she asked with the intent of knowing what he truly meant with those words.

Throughout the two days that the mission took them, they didn’t exactly hide their feelings, but they didn’t express them either, per se. If Callen was honest with himself, he was tired of holding them back, so to speak. He was tired of unconsciously trying to find the “right” moment to do or say things when it came to those love matters. So, he allowed his mind to ease and started undressing himself off all his walls, just like he had slowly been doing ever since his path met Anna’s, years ago. 

“With me. Upstairs,” he said determinedly while his right hand gestured towards the door that led onto the staircase.  
At first, Anna threw him a look he knew very well. She knew he wasn’t saying everything yet and she wanted him to. That was all she had ever wanted and needed—to truly hear how he felt like, although she had felt it multiple times. However, through his facial expression, Anna rapidly noticed Callen’s offer was nothing but a completely honest and courteous one, and it had no hidden intentions, so to speak. The look on her face softened. 

“I’m not sure you have a place to go and I don't want you to risk yourself, out there. At least not alone,” he continued. Callen took a little break as he studied her figure. “Besides…” Callen looked down at his left hand, which had instinctively reached for and met hers in a comforting grip, meanwhile. Then he looked up at Anna, their eyes meeting again and with more intensity. One could totally feel the tension building up between them. It took him a little while to finally carry on with his words, but he never lost the will nor the courage to do so. Callen was merely caught up in her so lovely appearance and traits, which he hadn’t seen in months. It all—her being there, right in front of him—still seemed like a dream. A very nice and awaited one. “I’ve missed you,” he said sincerely, and his voice broke a tiny little at the end.

Callen had missed Anna like he had never missed anything or anyone in his life. His whole being ached at the thought of how lonely he had felt during those months—which seemed to have lasted a lifetime. Not only when it came to the gracious and rather satisfying physical connection they had, but mainly to their so powerful and mind-blowing emotional bond. He swallowed dry at the thought of being completely exposed, emotionally naked, and at the slightest possibility of things having changed between them. He deep down knew they hadn’t. Not at 100% and definitely not for worse, at least. Otherwise, the moment they shared, earlier, would have never even begun. Nevertheless, that very small percentage of uncertainty was slowly killing him. 

Anna looked him in the eye, seeing the sincerity on his face, and then changed the focus of her gaze towards their hands. She smiled softly at the sweet touch they were exchanging; she had missed it badly, more than she would ever be able to put into words. Anna moved her hand slightly, to kindly squeeze his, and Callen caressed it with his thumb while his vision rested on her. His eyes then followed her gaze until she met his, anew. Anna’s free hand went up to Callen’s face, to slowly trace her thumb over his cheek as she stared at him. Callen turned his face a little towards her hand and then faced her, again.

“I’ve missed you, too, Grisha,” she confessed, silently accepting his offer. 

The mention of his name shot through his heart in the most warming of ways. And through hers, too. Anna knew how much hearing her say it meant to him, she’d felt it both on and in her a few times. A caring smile formed on her lips and Callen started closing the distance between them. He had done it once before, but now it was Anna the one who was somehow following his lead. 

Soon, their heads were just inches away and their gazes were as intense as in the short moment they had shared in the clothing fitting area at the OSP, earlier that day. Hadn’t it been for Beale’s unfortunately necessary interruption, Callen knew his lips would have ended up on hers and he wouldn’t have regretted it one bit. He never did. All he had wanted for too long—ever since they said goodbye in Cuba—was to revive the taste of her lips, their soft silken texture on his, and the way they charge him with energy. God knows how badly he had ached for her presence, her caresses, and for the way she loved him with the simplest of the gestures. 

Callen caught her looking at his lips and he bent his head a little forward to move his mouth closer to hers. He wanted, needed, her kiss, and he knew she wanted his as much. Anna just couldn’t fight her feelings. Not that she wanted to, though, and Callen saw it on her eyes. But, just like Callen, she had been hesitant about doing so, initially. When their lips touched ever so lightly, Callen felt like he had been brought back to life. Every inch of his body seemed to have been reborn. 

They took their time to reunite as a couple, and their rather long, rapturous, heartfelt, and impassioned kissing was a very vivid proof of how much they had missed each other. A while after, their mouths separated in search of air and, whilst their eyes instinctively met, both sensed that they had been teleported to their first undercover op as a couple. It all felt as new, as intense, and as wonderful as it had been when they first tasted each other. The feelings, however, had increased immensely. 

Eventually, Anna broke the silence with an important question. “So,” she paused. “Uh… what about them?” Anna asked and noticed an interrogation mark floating around in Callen’s mind, so she specified. “The team.” 

“Well… what’s your call?” Callen asked. He wasn’t trying to put the weight of that decision solely on Anna’s shoulders, but she sure had a bigger say on what they’d end up doing, given her current status. 

“They are your friends.” Before she could proceed, Callen shot her a look and she understood what he meant. “Our friends,” she said with a consented slight smile. “They are very good people, always have been very welcoming and lovely,”—she recalled the excited way Kensi had welcomed her, earlier—“… and I would hate to see them get into trouble, eventually, for knowing where I am or what has been happening, these days.” 

Callen listened to her carefully and she could almost see him thinking. “Seems fair. What about Arkady? You know how he is.”

“I’ll…I’ll find a way to tell him.”

“Alright. After all, this is about your safety. And theirs, too, consequently.”

“Also, keeping it”—her staying in LA and their reunion—"between us will hopefully give us some time and space to figure something out,” she added as her face changed into a slight but pretty defined worried look which was concealed under a weak smile. 

“That’s true, it does,” he consented as his lips changed into a small, compassionate but encouraging smile. “And we will find a way,” Callen assured her as he tightened the grip on her hand a little. 

“I know… I just wonder how long it will take,” she conjectured, and Callen could see the fear on her eyes as her smile began to fade away. Anna was starting to get completely tired of living like a criminal running away from the cops. When Callen didn’t say a word, Anna continued in a lighter tone in hopes to cheer the atmosphere up a little. “The bright side is…,” she paused. “It brings a certain sense of adrenaline,” she said with a cheeky smirk.

A soft chuckle left Callen’s mouth at her words. “There’s that.” Their teenage years were way past them, but there was always time for one to be sneaky, he thought.

Callen quickly glanced towards the bar’s window and noticed that the evening had come. By that time, the tension between them had decreased and it had happened in the most positive of ways, which both appreciated. 

Gently, Callen’s hands left Anna’s sides as he went to pick his jacket, the gun, and his phone. “Let’s go,” he announced. 

With a delicate move of his hand on her back, Callen guided Anna to the door that led to his apartment and turned off the light at the bar, on their way. A few stairs later, he opened the door and held it for Anna to enter in his apartment. 

He kept it as simple as his house was, which was of no surprise to her, even though he had acquired some new things, such as a couch and a modest wardrobe. Anna saw that he had brought the bed they had shared with him when he moved, and it relieved her as much as it made her proud. As far as she could tell, nothing indicated that he had gone back to his bedroll, which she had never minded, by the way. However, Anna was glad to acknowledge that he hadn’t been repressing himself of some deserved and needed comfort. 

The sound of the door being closed and locked made her thoughts vanish and she focused. Anna’s eyes followed Callen as he put the keys on his nightstand.

“Make yourself at home,” he told her sweetly as he walked over to the couch. Anna followed. He placed the suit jacket on the couch’s back and then collapsed on it with a tired groan. Then, he proceeded. “It’s been a long day, so why don’t you, uh… why don’t you go take a shower, get comfortable… I’ll go after you,” Callen offered as he undid the tie’s knot and took it off, making it join the jacket. 

In a swift move, Callen began to undo the buttons of the shirt and Anna felt a tiny bit sad about it. The guy looked considerably gorgeous in that formal apparel with different shades of blue, she couldn’t help it. Anyway, she concentrated on what he had said. “You must be exhausted, so go first. I can wait.” 

Callen didn’t really insist because he was tired indeed and in need of some delicious, warm water running down his whole torso and arms in order to relax his muscles, especially after that syringe had immobilized him for a few minutes. 

“Thank you,” he said politely. Callen promptly got up but turned around to face her. “As I said, make yourself at home.” 

He carried on with undressing the already unbuttoned shirt and then the suit pants, which he threw on the bed on his way to the bathroom. He had taken his shoes and socks off when he entered the apartment. 

It wasn’t like him to take much time in the shower and he didn’t. Despite his tiredness, Anna noticed him leaving the bathroom wrapped in a white, cotton towel pretty quickly. 

“All clear, the bathroom is all yours,” Callen said politely and Anna, who was watching some TV, turned her head to face him. She nodded, got up, and walked towards him. “I’ve put another towel there, so you’re good to go,” he added. 

“I appreciate that,” she said before placing a quick kiss on his inviting lips.

In the meantime, Callen got dressed in a comfy outfit and then searched his wardrobe for some fresh clothes that would fit Anna. He didn’t want her having to wear the same outfit again. So, he picked his dark blue sweatpants, the ones Anna had used once, and a light grey t-shirt that said “NCIS” on the front. He had used that t-shirt during his training, years ago, and decided to keep it. The underwear was a problem, but optimistically they could find a solution, soon. 

Anna had already turned the water on when Callen walked towards the bathroom with the chosen clothes in his hands. They knew their limits well and felt completely comfortable around each other, which translated into Anna not having the need to close or leave the door ajar during a simple shower. Besides, the shower cabin’s glass didn’t give that much away. It only let Callen see her silhouette, but he stood there, by the door for a few seconds, contemplating her and how fast things had changed, in the past couple of days. They had started by throwing sharp words at each other. Yet, there they were, sharing the same space in such an intimate way. Callen didn’t want to kind of invade her moment, so he put the clothes on the bathroom counter, which was placed right at his left, and silently walked out of the room. 

The minute Anna got out of the shower she was surprised to see the fresh pieces of clothing on the counter and a pair of her boyfriend’s old slippers on the ground. Callen had never been one to care about clothing that much, but he happened to be very fond of those slippers. Anna didn’t even notice that he had been in the bathroom and she chuckled quietly at that. She got dressed, walked out of the bathroom, and saw a handwritten note on the bed. “I’m in the kitchen,” she read. 

After the days they had and given everything that happened in between, Callen figured he should make—or try to make—something nice for dinner. For both. Nothing too crazy, just some comfort food that would gratify their mouths and stomachs.  
Later, he heard Anna approaching the kitchen. 

“Hey,” Callen greeted her as he took a moment to appreciate her appearance. “Looks better on you,” he added as his eyes motioned to her attire. 

“Thank you for the clothes.” Callen shot her a lovely smile. “You know, we can order something. You’re tired, you don’t have to cook.”

“I know that. But…,” he continued and lifted his left index finger while emphasizing that word. “I wanted something homemade and I know you prefer to cook your own food instead of having to wait for it to arrive.” His smirk kind of finished his sentence. 

“True,” she smiled. “And I actually miss homemade food. Let me at least help you.” 

“Be my guest.” 

They had a good time preparing and savoring their food. None had felt as happy or as welcomed in a while, and it was tremendously heartwarming that they were able to share those fun, caring and intimate moments, again. Both were incredibly grateful, and they didn’t want to throw that away. Callen had promised himself he would give them a better chance and be there for her, and he had no intention of dishonoring that challenge and that opportunity to build something nice and solid with the one he had fallen deeply in love with. 

A conversation about the latest months was inevitable but neither of them ran away from it. They faced it like the adults they are and talked everything through, the good and the bad. Anna knew about Nikita’s passing and finally shared her condolences. Eventually, their exchange changed, and they ended it by talking about what they were going to tell the team. That sure was something they had to work on.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it! I appreciate your feedback, let me know what you think of this piece.


End file.
